URGENT: Need Gun/Children Advice

I have a 4 year old in the house and my wife and I are trying to figure out when and how we should introduce our daughter to the presence of a gun in the house. I want to show it to her, stress that it will hurt her REALLY bad and to NEVER NEVER NEVER touch it. Although I keep it way out of her reach, eventually she will be able to get to it. We dont have the money to buy a safe for it yet being I just started with the department. She on the other hand thinks it is too early. My logic behind mine is that kids are natrually curious about guns and I think it would be better to share it with her and satisfy her curiousity so that she doesnt take it upon herself to try and satisfy it on her on. I would really appreciate any advice I can get on how to deal with this until we can afford a safe.

I agree with dispelling curiosity, but I'm not sure if a 4 year old is going to understand. One thing that you might check is if your agency will supply you with a trigger lock or you can get gun locks pretty cheap if not for free from gun dealers. My personal opinion is your daughter is too young. I introduced my guns to my kids when they were about 7 or 8, but then again they stay in the safe.

Thank you for your advice, I have never used a trigger lock though. My duty weapon is the only gun in the house so I use it for home protection as well. How fast can a trigger lock be taken off in an emergency?

At least get a trigger lock or any lockable box that can be bolted down... And check out the Eddie Eagle program

http://www.nrahq.org/safety/eddie/

This is a great start. If you keep a firearm in your home always, ALWAYS have it locked up. My best investment was my safe especially with my daughter and the neighborhood kids coming around. There is a p/l member who went through what none of us would want to with his child. Beg borrow or steal just get the safe. It is worth the dough.

I agree with dispelling curiosity, but I'm not sure if a 4 year old is going to understand. One thing that you might check is if your agency will supply you with a trigger lock or you can get gun locks pretty cheap if not for free from gun dealers. My personal opinion is your daughter is too young. I introduced my guns to my kids when they were about 7 or 8, but then again they stay in the safe.

Locks, I think, would be your next best option.

Great advice...

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From every human being there rises a light that reaches straight to heaven.

Thanks for all the great advice guys. I will certianly look into these options. Until then I will just keep it unloaded just to be on the safe side. I still dont know when we should introduce her to it though, to satisfy her couriosity. She has already noticed it on my duty rig but we are at a loss as to what to tell her about it. Thanks again all.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.... Find a way to make sure that your firearm is SECURE from little hands... IF anyone knows about this, I do....

On 11/29/2007... My 3 year old son snuck into the master bedroom of our home, found a hidden pistol and fatally shot himself. 1 week from today, my wife and I will be Criminally charged in connection with his death.

For about $20 bucks wal-mart sells a lockable box with a 5 button combination lock (& a key override) or there are some holsters with slots on them so that you can lock the gun in the holster with a pair of handcuffs....

Whatever you do... PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, I beg of you (any anyone else with little ones at home) DONT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID.... NO PARENT SHOULD SUFFER LIKE WE HAVE.... Any questions feel free to email me directly hospitalcop2000@yahoo.com
Mike

Too many youngsters get their hands on firearms without proper supervision. Keep your guns secure from ALL unauthorized persons! Lets stop burying children - PLEASE (jal.fast@yahoo.com)

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.... Find a way to make sure that your firearm is SECURE from little hands... IF anyone knows about this, I do....

On 11/29/2007... My 3 year old son snuck into the master bedroom of our home, found a hidden pistol and fatally shot himself. 1 week from today, my wife and I will be Criminally charged in connection with his death.

For about $20 bucks wal-mart sells a lockable box with a 5 button combination lock (& a key override) or there are some holsters with slots on them so that you can lock the gun in the holster with a pair of handcuffs....

Whatever you do... PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, I beg of you (any anyone else with little ones at home) DONT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID.... NO PARENT SHOULD SUFFER LIKE WE HAVE.... Any questions feel free to email me directly hospitalcop2000@yahoo.com
Mike

Thanks for all the great advice guys. I will certianly look into these options. Until then I will just keep it unloaded just to be on the safe side. I still dont know when we should introduce her to it though, to satisfy her couriosity. She has already noticed it on my duty rig but we are at a loss as to what to tell her about it. Thanks again all.

I think only your daughter's maturity is going to answer this for you.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.... Find a way to make sure that your firearm is SECURE from little hands... IF anyone knows about this, I do....

On 11/29/2007... My 3 year old son snuck into the master bedroom of our home, found a hidden pistol and fatally shot himself. 1 week from today, my wife and I will be Criminally charged in connection with his death.

For about $20 bucks wal-mart sells a lockable box with a 5 button combination lock (& a key override) or there are some holsters with slots on them so that you can lock the gun in the holster with a pair of handcuffs....

Whatever you do... PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, I beg of you (any anyone else with little ones at home) DONT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID.... NO PARENT SHOULD SUFFER LIKE WE HAVE.... Any questions feel free to email me directly hospitalcop2000@yahoo.com
Mike

I pray for you everyday after your tragic accident. I am happy you are explaining what happened so maybe it won't happen again. Thank you and Good Luck.

Hello my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die.

"It's not a constitutional violation for a police officer to be a jerk." Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy -December 4, 2000

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.... Find a way to make sure that your firearm is SECURE from little hands... IF anyone knows about this, I do....

On 11/29/2007... My 3 year old son snuck into the master bedroom of our home, found a hidden pistol and fatally shot himself. 1 week from today, my wife and I will be Criminally charged in connection with his death.

For about $20 bucks wal-mart sells a lockable box with a 5 button combination lock (& a key override) or there are some holsters with slots on them so that you can lock the gun in the holster with a pair of handcuffs....

Whatever you do... PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, I beg of you (any anyone else with little ones at home) DONT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID.... NO PARENT SHOULD SUFFER LIKE WE HAVE.... Any questions feel free to email me directly hospitalcop2000@yahoo.com
Mike

Thanks for sharing. Hopefully it can prevent another accident...Sorry for your loss...

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE.... Find a way to make sure that your firearm is SECURE from little hands... IF anyone knows about this, I do....

On 11/29/2007... My 3 year old son snuck into the master bedroom of our home, found a hidden pistol and fatally shot himself. 1 week from today, my wife and I will be Criminally charged in connection with his death.

For about $20 bucks wal-mart sells a lockable box with a 5 button combination lock (& a key override) or there are some holsters with slots on them so that you can lock the gun in the holster with a pair of handcuffs....

Whatever you do... PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE, I beg of you (any anyone else with little ones at home) DONT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID.... NO PARENT SHOULD SUFFER LIKE WE HAVE.... Any questions feel free to email me directly hospitalcop2000@yahoo.com
Mike

Thanks for sharing. Hopefully it can prevent another accident...Sorry for your loss...

Thank you for the great advice. Please accept my most sincere condolences about your son. My prayers will be with you and your family always. Thanks for sharing this very valuable information.

You put the red safety cable through the the damn thing, smack her hand if she comes near it... then wait till shes twelve.. then you take her to a gun range.. also we keep our guns in lock boxes.. its either at work with us, or its locked up.. We have glocks.. so the red cable fits through the handle.

dont mean to sound rude but dammit if you can afford a gun you can take your behind to walmart and buy a small safe for $25. if for some reason you cant, contact your local police department and i am sure that any officer with any conscious will assist you and most departments provide trigger locks for free.

I agree with the people on here about buying a safe, get one asap! Personally, the curiosity of the gun is going to get to the child. They think everything is a toy and they should be introduced to gun so they know they are not toys. I would say take your child to the range with you and make her listen to the blast (with hearing protection). I think that alone will be enough to scare her away from the fact that it is no longer a toy. They like noisy things but guns are too much for most of them. After that keep smacking the hand until you feel that their old enough to handle the gun and let them shoot. Then the child can actually see the destructive power that the weapon possess. Just my opinion though.....

I don't laugh in death's face. I tend to make belittling comments and snigger behind death's back.

Yes the primary thing is to keep your firearm secure and out of childrens hands. You must also educate your child as to the dangers of firearms, not just yours. Kepping the firearm a mystery will only arouse curiosity, this is when accident happen. Also educate your child not to talk about the firearm to their other friends.

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"Fear is an instinct. Courage is a choice."
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I shot my first gun.( 22 revovler ) when I was 6 years old. I remember riding out deep in the woods with my dad and we stopped in this field. He set up a few ole coke bottles ( glass ) and showed me how to work it. showed me how to aim and squeeze the trigger. Pretty sure I got at least 2 of the bottles and I just fell in love with guns since then. But I knew what a gun was, even before then I knew they went boom and somewhere a deer was falling down and that ment deer stew or the like. If i'm ever blessed to have children I'll slowly introduce them to guns and safe handleing. You can never be sure of which age to start but off hand if they havent been around them before, i'd say 7 or 8 years old.

Everything you do can get you killed, including doing nothing at all..

You must educate your child asap about the dangers of a gun. A friend of mine's 5 yr. old son found his 9mm up on a high shelf in the closet and put it to his chest and pulled the trigger. My friend blames himself for his son's death and for not having his gun locked up in a safe place.